For Those Without a Choice
by libbylondon
Summary: This is the story of a boy without a choice, a girl blinded by ignorance, how they found each other and how they lost each other.   It's rated M for later chapters
1. Prologue

I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters within the books. That is all JK Rowling. No Copyright infringement meant in the writing of the Fiction.

Please review. I'm always up for some constructive criticism.

And, here you go.

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><p>"YOU'RE SO CONVINCED WE ALL HAVE A CHOICE!" I'd never seen him so angry, and I wanted to reach out and scoop the words back into my mouth. I wished I never said anything. His breathing was short and slightly sporadic as he tried to regain his temper. "And maybe you have a choice, but I sure as hell don't. I could have joined you, helped save the world and let my mother die. Or I could have taken the Mark and saved my mother. So you can sit there and call me an evil bastard, a selfish prat and whatever else your Gryffindor mind can come up with. But I did what I had to do to save the person I love most in the world. There never really was a choice. And if you can't understand that, then you're a fool."<p>

I wanted nothing more than to scream his name, to run after him and kiss him with all my might. But I just stood there, staring at his retreating back, my mouth opening and closing, causing me to resemble a fish. He did it for his mother. All of it was for his mother, and we just stood by, judging him for his actions.

Draco Malfoy was a hero without a choice. Given the options he had, I know I would have done the same as he. He was right. He'd done what he'd had to. And, try as I might, I could not fault him for that.

Slowly, I wandered back to the rest, but paused in front of the Great Hall. I didn't want to go back, I didn't want to see Fred, Tonks, Lupin and the rest. I couldn't face their lifeless bodies. I couldn't face the tears for the lost. I couldn't face the rest of my family. So instead, I stood in the destroyed courtyard in front of the school and tried to ignore the bloodstained stone.

"Oh, Tom. What have you done?" I felt a tear fall slowly down my cheek, making the skin itch slightly. "You've ruined everything for a failed cause, Tom. Are you happy now?"

I felt his presence before he spoke, so I wasn't surprised when his cool voice drifted over to me. "Careful, Miss Weasley. Showing a familiarity with the Dark Lord, you could end up somewhere I am quite positive you wouldn't want to be."

"Considering they all know who is at fault for my familiarity, I'm sure I'll be quite alright, Mister Malfoy." I replied just as coolly, wishing he'd just leave.

"Touché, Miss Weasley." He reached my side and reached for my hand. "I want to speak to you before I most assuredly end up in Azkaban. I'm so very sorry, Miss Weasley. For what I have done to you, for what has happened to your family. You saved my boy's life tonight, and for that, I will be eternally grateful. My family is my entire world, and it's my fault they were on the wrong side. I was a fool, and I realized this years ago. But by then it was too late, for all of us. Please, Miss Weasley, make sure the world knows. They cannot be faulted for decisions they did not make."

"I'll give them my full support, sir. I'll make sure they're treated correctly." I would have done so even if he hadn't requested it, but for some strange, inexplicable reason, I felt the need to comfort the doomed man. "I promise."

"Thank you, Miss Weasley. I will never be able to express my gratitude. And, I am truly sorry about your brother. I know how close your family is."

"Thank you, sir."

I watched as he nodded and walked away, wondering what had just happened. Lucius Malfoy had just spoken to me in a most civilized manner, and I'd just acted like it was perfectly normal. I realized I was too numb to care when he spoke to me. From the loss of my brother and some of my dearest friends to the kisses from Harry that made me realize I could never go back to loving him. It had all made me numb to the world. And suddenly, I felt my knees begin to bruise as they hit the ground and I collapsed into a mess of tears and blood, screaming at the top of my lungs.

I felt arms wrap around me, though I didn't open my eyes. I didn't care what happened to me anymore. I just kept screaming, thrashing weakly in the arms of my supposed savior. I heard my head crack on stone more than felt it. And then the world went black.


	2. Chapter 1

I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters within the books. That is all JK Rowling. No Copyright infringement meant in the writing of the Fiction.

Please review. I'm always up for some constructive criticism.

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><p>"I'm so <em>fucking <em>bored." She wiggled in her seat in a vain attempt to relieve the painful tingling in her rear. She kept mumbling things of the same sort under her breath, praying for the minutes to go by faster. She'd thought taking advanced classes meant more of a challenge. Apparently, it did not.

"Good God, Weasel, we get it, this class is boring you to tears, but shut the _fuck_ up." Warm breath hit the back of her neck as the loathsome creature behind her hissed the words.

"Mind your own business, Ferret." She hissed back, her fists clenching at the sound of his voice.

"I would if I could concentrate on something for more than five seconds without your constant interrupting!" He was getting angry, and she knew it. While this subject was incredibly easy for her, it was difficult for him. She didn't care much, just enough to actually be quiet for the rest of the period.

As the students ambled out of the Charms classroom, Professor Flitwick called out to her, asking if she would mind staying back for just a moment. Sighing, she placed her bag on the desk closest to the front and waited for the rest of the class to leave.

"Miss Weasley, you are an exceptional student. Your understanding of the subject amazes me, as well as many of the other teachers." She zoned out, embarrassed and slightly bored with his incessant compliments. However, she was quickly drawn back into the conversation by these seven words: "I would like you to tutor Draco Malfoy."

She spluttered in indignation, about to profusely refuse. She absolutely could not tutor that pompous, egocentric, sadistic son-of-a-

"The Malfoys are willing to pay you fifteen galleons an hour for your services."

Rich-mother-fucker.

"Of course I'll tutor Mal-Draco, sir. I'll having him passing with flying colors in no time."

"That's what I like to hear, Miss Weasley! Now, off you go. Don't want to miss lunch!"

She groaned inwardly. Ron was going to kill her.

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><p>Ginny watched as an extraordinarily beautiful owl swooped into the Great Hall. Draco Malfoy's owl. She had no doubt that he was about to learn of his new tutor.<p>

Her assumption was proven to be correct as a horrified, and very undignified, yell was heard throughout the Hall.

"WHAT?"

"God, shut _up_, Malfoy!" Ron groaned as he piled a fourth serving onto his plate.

"I wonder what his knickers are all bunched up about." Harry stated, piling almost as much food onto his plate as Ron.

"Well, I have a feeling you're about to find out." Hermione said as she peered over her book. "He's coming over. Stomping over, really."

"Weasel! Weasel, what the fuck?" Draco was seething as he slammed his fist down next to Ginny, the note crumpled in his fist.

"Leave her alone, Ferret!" Ron yelled, his brotherly instinct to protect kicking in. Ginny just glared at Ronald to silence him before turning it to Malfoy.

"I'm simply doing as I was asked, Ferret. It's not my fault you're awful at Charms. Your parents requested the best, which I am. So either quickly grasp the concepts or spend ten hours a week with me, per your parents request. In other words, my dear, suck it up."

His mouth began to twist in disgust and anger, hatred seemed to drip from every pore. He opened his mouth, no doubt to put forth a scathing retort meant to cut to the core. However, before he could do anything, a biscuit was shoved into his mouth and a sheet of red hair swung to and fro as Ginny flounced through the massive doors.

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><p><strong>AN: I'm sorry my chapters are so short. I'm trying to get the hang of it all. I also would appreciate some reviews before I continued. I'm not greedy, even one would suffice. I just want to know what you like/don't like. Anything really.**


	3. Chapter 2

**I don't own any of the characters you recognize, nor the places. No copyright infringement meant in the writing of this story.**

**With that said, please read, enjoy, and review. **

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><p>"Come on, Draco! You're so close!" Ginny nearly yelled at the boy she had been growing increasingly irritated by. This last hour had been the most frustrating to date, and that was saying something. Ten hours a bloody week with this pillock was really beginning to take its toll on her. What time wasn't spent in class or on her own homework, she spent either tutoring Malfoy or planning out their next session. It all left very little time for food or sleep, let alone socializing with people she actually enjoyed.<p>

Finally, with a lazy flick of his wand, tiny birds flew from the tip of his wand. Ginny cheered, and nearly hugged him with relief. He really wasn't stupid, just lazy. That was the most infuriating part. Draco just didn't seem to give a damn about his grades. It was like his mind was constantly elsewhere. The only thing that really made any of this worth it was the mass amounts of galleons she had sitting in to bottom of her trunk, lovingly shoved into a sock Dobby had knitted Harry for Christmas last year. She silently thanked extension charms, before inwardly groaning at the prospect of teaching that one to Draco.

"Right!" She clapped her hands together and picked up her things. "Next, the Four Point charm. Only, we have to go to the seventh floor. Do you know where the tapestry of Banabus the Barmy is?"

"We're going to the Room of Requirement? Whatever for, Weaslette? Want a quick snog where nobody will find us? Well, you'll just have to find Potty, then, because I would never force myself into that form of torture."

"Oh, really, you git. I need it to create something for you to have to navigate your way through. Wait, you know about the Room of Requirement? How?" She couldn't help but feel suspicious of the Slytherin. What use would he have for the room?

"Oh, come now, Weaslette. I'm the Slytherin Sex God. Surely you don't expect me to shag girls in my dorm with the others all listening in?" He tried to laugh it off, but something in his eyes was off.

She chose to ignore whatever suspicions she had, however, simply to prevent him going into detail of his conquest.

When they reached the seventh floor, Draco stood back as Ginny paced in front of the wall, her face scrunched up in concentration. Finally, a large, ornate door appeared, and she swung it open, barely waiting until Draco followed her inside to slam it shut.

"The Four Point charm. It causes your wand to act as a compass. What is the incantation?"

"Point me."

"Very good. Open." Draco opened his mouth for Ginny to pop in a chocolate. Early on in their tutoring sessions, she'd discovered his deep love of chocolate, and devised her ingenious reward system. Whenever Draco answered a question correctly, he received a chocolate. It was working, really, quite well. She shoved two into his mouth. "You also finally corrected the Avis charm, so you deserve two."

They both looked forward, into the room. Draco's mouth dropped. In front of him was a massive maze, nearly as impressive as the one from the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

"It's where I got the idea." Ginny stated, as if reading his mind. "Harry used this charm to get himself through the maze. Now, I'm going to go in, the maze will transport me to the northwest corner. For the purpose of this activity, this wall is south. After I've disappeared, you may begin. Ready?"

Draco nodded, still chewing the chocolates in his mouth.

"Oh, really. You just gaped for twenty seconds, chocolate dribbling down your chin, and now you won't talk with them in your mouth? You're ridiculous." Those were the last words he heard before she disappeared before his eyes.

With a large gulped, his chocolates were gone. "Bint." He whispered, almost as if she could hear him. He quite remembered what it was like to be on the wrong end of her wand, and was not eager to be back there. Lately, he'd kept his insults as impersonal as he could, though he wasn't so sure if it was for the reasons he claimed.

"Draco, really. Weaslette? Snap out of it!" He scoffed at himself before waltzing into the maze. Instantly, it snapped shut behind him. He slowly moved forward, in the direction he assumed he ought to be going. Half an hour later, he finally pulled out his wand and muttered, "Point me."

His wand pointed backwards, silently proclaiming he was walking in the wrong direction.

"Fuck." He was in for a long night.

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry it took me so long to update this one. I just couldn't get into it for some reason. But, thank you all for being patient! I'll try to get the next chapter out by Sunday at the latest.**

**Love,**

**Olivia**


	4. Chapter 3

Ginny fell onto her bed, utterly exhausted. It had taken Draco four hours to finally get to her. That was fine, really, since she'd be getting paid for the extra time, but she'd been utterly bored the entire time. Not thinking it would take him _quite_ that long, she'd only brought enough school work to last her two, not four, hours.

"Bloody Ferret, taking up all my free time." She groaned into her pillow. What she really wanted to be doing during the time she spent tutoring Draco was be with Harry. Their relationship had been building up the last year, and she wanted to make sure it went further than sly glances and shy smiles. The slow progress was driving her absolutely barmy.

"Stupid git, too lazy to do his work. Wasting all of my time just because he _can_. Probably why the bastard takes so long learning the things we go over. Probably thinks it's _funny. _Stupid git."

She fell asleep that night to incredibly violent fantasies of what she would rather be doing to Draco Malfoy during their sessions.

On the opposite side of the castle, Draco Malfoy lay awake, cursing the littlest Weasel.

"Crazy bint, making me run around a fucking _maze_ all night, trying to find _her. _I don't know why I didn't just leave her there. Doesn't she know who I am?" He exclaimed rather loudly, causing a hitch in both Crabbe and Goyle's snoring.

"Shut the hell up, mate. Some of us are trying to sleep!" Blaise Zabini's voice was muffled by the pillow over his head, his attempt at blocking out Draco's rant. "We get it, Weaslette's a stupid slag, etcetera, etcetera. Can you just wait to curse her name until tomorrow? I'll even help you, just shut up!"

"She's not a slag." Draco mumbled, finally laying his head on his pillow. "A bint, maybe, but never a slag."

He didn't see the strange look Blaise cast in his direction through the darkness. Draco was defending Weaslette? Even if it was in a backhanded way, it was extraordinarily strange. Deciding he must have heard him wrong, Blaise took advantage of the silence and finally fell into a peaceful slumber.

To Draco's horror, he found himself falling asleep to intense, naughty fantasies of exactly what he would rather be doing with Ginny Weasley during their tutoring sessions.

The next morning was a Sunday, for which Ginny was relieved. Wonderful, relaxing, Draco-free Sundays. They were by far her favorite day as of late. She quickly readied herself for the day before sprinting into the common room. She grinned, realizing she'd caught them just in time.

"You lot heading to breakfast? I'm starved, shall we?" She slipped her arm through Hermione's and practically began to drag the girl out the portrait hole.

"Ginny, I've missed you. I've gone mad with just these two. One can only handle _so much _Quidditch talk!"

Ron protested at this, spluttering slightly. "We don't only talk about Quidditch!"

"Oh, quite correct, Ronald. They also speak of Wizard's Chess!" Hermione and Ginny laughed at Ron's indignant expression. Even Harry allowed a slightly uneasy grin to turn the corners of his mouth.

"In all seriousness, I am glad to see you." Hermione squeezed Ginny's arm with her own. "I hear you've also been asked to join the Slug Club."

She grimaced at this. The only things she enjoyed about Slug Club were that Draco was not involved, and that Harry was. "Apparently," She cleared lowered her voice, attempting to replicate Slughorn's tone, "My skill with potion is remarkable, resembling the brilliance of one of his favorites…" She stopped, not sure how to continue. Slughorn had compared her to Lily Evans. 'Potter. Lily _Potter._' He had corrected himself.

"Who did he compare you to, Gin?" Harry smiled widely. She could almost see a hint of pride in his voice.

"Your mum. He said I was almost as brilliant as your mum, Harry." Though sadness seeped into his eyes, the amount of pride grew.

"Yeah, he told me she was amazing." His smile was smaller this time, more sad, but still there.

The group walked in silence, though not an uncomfortable one, the rest of the way.

All throughout breakfast, Ginny felt strange. Like someone was glaring at her, though when she looked around, no one was even glancing in her direction. She shook off the feeling, insisting she was just being paranoid. She leaned into Harry, and whispered into his ear.

"Care to come with me? We haven't spoken in ages. I want to catch up." Harry nodded, but cast a wary glance towards his best friends. Ginny let out a small laugh before leaning in once more. "Follow me in a few minutes so they don't get suspicious."

She stood, still taking one last bite as she did so. She waved to her friends, and slowly walked towards the door, still feeling the glares. She turned her head to the side, still searching for the mystery person. Finally, her eyes locked with piercing grey eyes. They were colder, harsher, than she'd ever seen them. She nearly ran the rest of the way towards the doors, eager to be out of sight.

Leaning against a cool wall, she breathed deeply. She'd never been frightened of him before, but in that moment she was. Those eyes were haunting her, sending chills to her core.

What the _hell _had she done to piss off Draco Malfoy?


	5. Chapter 4

That stupid bint. That stupid bint with her gorgeous red hair, her incredible fair skin with the most delightful sprinkling of freckles. That stupid bint.

How dare she? How dare she invade his very waking thought, and then somehow find it appropriate to invade his sleeping ones as well? The nerve.

The nerve of that stupid bint, making Draco Malfoy feel and think such things.

No one makes Draco Malfoy feel and think those sort of things.

Except for plain, poor, pathetic Ginny Weasley.

Only, he didn't think her plain or pathetic. Poor she may be, but plain and pathetic? Never.

She was the fire to his ice. The warm breath of life seeping into his frozen lungs. The life now pumping through his veins. His reason to stay good, his reason to stay living.

And he hated her for that.

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><p>Ginny Weasley was confused. More so than she had ever been. Draco was more cold and angry than ever before, and she knew it had something to do with her. Only, now it struck her to her very core. It physically hurt to see him so angry.<p>

She feigned a smile as Harry sat down next to her. She held back a cringe when he began to nuzzle her neck. This is not what she wants. This was not how things were meant to be.

"I need to see Draco." She stood abruptly, startling those around her. "Tutoring session." She added, knowing it was the only plausible excuse. She also knew it was a complete lie.

She was in love with Draco Malfoy. God knows why, but she was. And she couldn't wait a minute longer to tell him.

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><p>She found him in the dungeons, as one would expect to find a Slytherin. However, he was alone and looking scared. Truly scared. Not like the pathetic whimpering of his younger years. No, he was truly, deeply, heartbreakingly scared. It broke her in half to see him like that.<p>

"Draco." She whispered it unintentionally, meaning instead to announce herself with determination. She couldn't bring herself to be loud, however. Not with him looking like that. "Draco, I need-"

"Weasley, shut up and leave me alone. It's bad enough that I have to deal with you during tutoring." He hissed, apparently having no desire to be loud either.

"No, Draco, this is-"

"Weasley. Shut. The fuck. Up." He stared at her for just a moment, and she noticed none of the venom from his words reached his eyes. "Please, Ginny. Please go."

"I can't. I can't do this anymore. I'm so sick of the lying-"

"That's all I could ever do to you. What I'm doing, Gin-"

"I don't care. Don't tell me. It won't be a lie, it will just be a secret. I can deal with secrets. I have plenty myself. But this needs to stop, Draco. For months we've been playing this sick game of cat and mouse. And it needs to stop. I love you. I love you despite what I know and I just can't bring myself to care anymore. I just want to be with you."

"What about Saint Potter?" This time, the venom did reach his eyes and she could nearly taste the putrid anger in the air.

"Gone. I'll drop him in a second for you, Draco, you have to know that. I love you. I love you so much. Draco-"

"Stop talking, Ginny."

"No, Draco, I will talk! I've been waiting ages to get this all out and you will not stop me just because of your stupid fucking-"

"Hello, Potter. Weasel. Lovely day, isn't it?" Draco's voice hit her like a brick wall. He pulse sped up and she felt the tears begin to build. This is exactly the opposite of what how she wanted them to find out. She could already picture Harry's broken hearted face. Ronald's pure fury. She could feel it hitting her back in scorching waves.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't want you to find out this way. I wanted to-"

"Keep me as a back up plan in case he said no?" Harry's voice was just a whisper, but it stung worse than any screaming could. Because that's exactly what her idiotic fifteen-year-old mind had thought. And it killed her that he knew it.

"Harry, I'm so sorry." She still could not bring herself to face them. Instead, she bore her eyes into the ice of Draco's. She could see the pity in them, and she was bot thankful and resentful of it. Thankful because she knew she was the only one he looked at with such a look, and resentful for the same reason. She never wanted him to pity her, to view her s weak.

With that thought in mind, she turned on her heels with determination.

"I'm so sorry, Harry. I've been trying, I really have. I thought I could have loved you, but you're like a brother. It just feels wrong. And I-" It was then she realized Ron was no where to be found. He was so infuriated that he wasn't yelling at her. Instead, he'd chosen to just walk away, no doubt with the resolution to disown her. She didn't doubt he would.

This was supposed to be happy. This was supposed to be the night she and Draco finally connected, finally admitted everything. And she'd done a right good job of fucking it up.

She fell to the ground in a crumpled heap of self-hatred and disappointment for her now shattered existence.


	6. Chapter 5

**AN: First, I want to start off with a profuse and genuine apology. This has been one hell of a year for me, and then the worst bout of writers block hit. I'm not going to make promises I can't keep, but I will say that I'll try my very most to post chapters regularly. I'm so, so sorry. Next, I would like to clear something up. The Prologue is meant to be after all of the events in the story. The rest of the chapters are leading up to that moment. This is a Ginny chapter, however it won't be an explanation quite yet, but the next chapter will. This is, honestly, just a filler chapter, because I feel quite awful about the wait.**

**So, without further ado, the next chapter!**

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><p>Things were not looking up. Ginny felt like she was drowning, and that she would never again reach the surface of the pool of misery she'd cried for herself. At fifteen years old, she should have known better. She was raised better than that. To be so disrespectful to someone's feelings, to <em>Harry's <em>feelings, was unacceptable. He was her boyfriend, though she found herself forgetting that more often than not. He hadn't deserved that treatment.

Ginny sighed, finally exhausted of the seemingly endless tears from before. She hadn't meant to fall for Draco, truly, she'd meant to be at Harry's side for all of eternity. It wasn't her fault the fates had different plans, was it? And, really, spending so much time with him over the past three and a half months, getting to know him, whether he knew it or not, was it that surprising? These rush of feelings she felt for him, and the quickness of their approach had been something she'd always craved with Harry. But it wasn't her fault she didn't feel that way about him. She'd tried so hard, she truly had. So, no, she could not be placed at fault for this.

_Except. Well, Harry was right, wasn't he? You were holding on to him in case Draco rejected you? That's what Harry was most hurt about, and that surely is your fault. _The ever irritating voice screeched in her mind, refusing to let her escape this trap of guilt she'd wound herself into. Finally letting the exhaustion take her, as well as attempting to pretend she didn't hear the voice in her head, she drifted into a restless sleep, dreams of angry green eyes and pitying steel invading her slumber.

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><p>"Ginny? Gin, wake up. It's nearly noon, and you have to get up now. Ignoring the problem will <em>not <em>make it go away." Ginny groaned in indignation. Of course it would, that's how problems worked. She rolled over, praying the overly logical witch standing over her would leave her be to wallow in her misery. However, she realized her plan would be unsuccessful rather quickly."Fine then, I can play dirty." Hermione's voice was filled with irritated exasperation, and Ginny knew at once she'd made a grave mistake.

Not a second later, her warm sheets were being ripped off of her, and an ice cold gallon of water fell upon her half naked form. She faintly heard a high pitched screeching sound, the freezing sensation numbing her senses enough for her to not realize where it was coming from. Slowly, the shock faded and the world began to focus once more. Upon the regaining of her senses, she was embarrassed to find the irritating screeching was, indeed, coming from her own mouth. She immediately shut the noise making orifice and glared with heated fury at the bushy haired genius in front of her.

"Get up and go take a shower. We're going to the kitchens. Now, go!" Hermione pulled her out of the soaking bed and shoved her towards the bathroom. As the door was shut behind her, she quickly relieved herself of the sopping and bone-chilling pajamas. She jumped into the shower, eager for the warm water to chase the unbearable cold from her body. After a few minutes of just letting the water run over her body, she was feeling warm enough to function once more. Turning her back to the water, she let it soak into her hair before slowly massaging her strawberry scented shampoo into her scalp. The soft, fresh scent caused a dreamy smile to appear on her face. As she let the water rinse away the suds, she was thankful for Hermione's thoughtfulness. The shampoo had been a birthday gift from the older girl, who had realized the calming affect strawberries had on Ginny's fiery temper. The smell could calm her down from even the worst of moods, and she thanked her brothers luck in snagging Hermione as a friend.

Once she was fully scrubbed down, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a ridiculously fluffy, and delightfully warm, towel around her. Quickly casting a drying charm on her hair, she took a moment to sigh in exasperation at her pin straight hair. She quickly tossed it up into a messy bun atop her head and opened the door to her dorm.

Before she could react, Hermione had shoved clothes into her arms, kissed her on the forehead, and ran down the stairs yelling for Ginny to hurry. Doing as she was told, she quickly threw on the clothes Hermione had chosen. Once fully clothed, she grinned at how well the bookworm knew her. The mirror revealed a small ginger in an, almost, too small Weird Sisters tee and an old pair of Hermione's sweat pants. _Bad mood, bum clothes._ She thought to herself as she slid on a pair of flip flops and rushed down the stairs.

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><p><strong>AN: I promise I'll have another update very, very soon with Ginny's explanation of falling for Draco.<strong>

**On a completely different note, is anyone interested in being my beta reader? I would appreciate it so, so much!**

**Love,**

**Libby.**


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